Presence
by The Smiling Fox
Summary: One-shot. Sasuke becomes sick during a mission with Kakashi, and the man begins to realize exactly what his student means to him. Gift Fic. KakaSasu  Father and son.


**AN:**Hey! Simple one-shot for my BESTEST BESTIE BEST BEST BEST FRIEND! She deserves so much more, but sadly I don't have the skills to do so. She has been a big help in my stories, giving me the thumbs up as I went and so on, so this is my little thumbs up to her. Even if it is a nerdy thumbs up... A very nerdy thumbs up... XD

_For the talented and wonderfully spunky..._

_**SasukeUchihasGuardian**_

I do not own Naruto, or any of its characters...

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><p>The boy gasped and choked for air, black bangs sticking to his sweaty forehead. A nightmare was haunting his dreams and his thin form rolled around under the covers.<p>

".. No... Ita-... No!" The Uchiha squeaked and clutched the navy blanket around him. Grey eyes watched him miserably. The man's student had woken him up yet again, and only after about thirty minutes since the last time. Kakashi reached over and shook the young boy's shoulder.

"Sasuke... Sasuke, wake up." He shook harder, making the young ninja gasp and snap his eyes open. He jumped and grabbed his sensei's wrist in fright, eyes softening as he realized it was just Kakashi.

"S-Sensei? I-I...," he slowed down as he realized he had woken the man up for the second time, blushing and looking away, "I'm sorry..." Kakashi sighed and smiled under his mask. He rubbed the boy's hot back comfortingly.

"It's fine, Sasuke. I understand." The jounin said and leaned back onto his sleeping bag. The two were on a mission together. _Just_ the two of them. Kakashi had been fairly worried that it would turn out badly. He knew how stubborn the boy could be and Tsunade had informed him _not_ to let Sasuke out of his sight under any circumstances. The Uchiha didn't enjoy this of course and said that that idea would certainly get shot down on the mission. Surprisingly, so far everything had gone fine. Sasuke hadn't spoken much about the rule, or about anything at all, actually. Now that Kakashi thought about it, the kid had been a bit more pale than usual. Kakashi had also noticed that his student had fallen asleep the minute he had been told to, extremely strange compared to his usual behavior. A grunt from Sasuke dragged Kakashi out of his thoughts and he turned to see what was the matter. Sasuke was on his hands and knees, panting and looking at him with dull, half lidded eyes. He coughed and dropped his head the next moment.

"K-Kashi... I-I don't feel so... good." He murmured out and felt his teacher's hand on his forehead. The man launched up and looked over the Uchiha. The boy definitely had a fever, and a high one at that. They were too far from any neighboring village to get medical help if he got worse. The thought worried the man and he started rummaging around for something cold.

"Where's... the water?" Sasuke moaned and looked up as a cold hand began to take his shirt over his head. The boy leaned back and allowed the fabric to slide off, shaking with relief. That shirt had always been a heat trap. His sensei unzipped the tent and moved the boy so that the cold air hit him face on. Sasuke shivered and leaned back against Kakashi, who ignored the icy wind in silence. The man was relieved to know it was Winter. That would make cooling the boy off much easier. Sasuke grunted and felt his teacher's arms wrap around him comfortingly. He let his dull eyes roll upwards to give him a thankful look, silently accepting Kakashi's help. The jounin smiled a little. The cold was beginning to make his muscles tighten, but he didn't mind. His student's feverishly warm body was keeping his bare chest hot. Sasuke soon fell asleep against him, eyebrows furrowing as he slept. His sensei watched him for the rest of the night, worried sick about his health.

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><p>Sasuke groaned and opened his black eyes. Kakashi sat next to him, nose stuck in his book, as usual. The boy felt terrible and he covered his eyes with his left arm, a deep moan slipping past his lips. His sensei looked up with curious eyes.<p>

"You feeling better, Sasuke?" He asked softly, seeing his student's face become laced with pain. He shook his head slowly, letting out another agonized moan.

"I-I feel like crap..." He choked out and grimaced up at the tent's roof. The grey haired man frowned at the child's answer. He'd thought a good long rest would let the bug pass naturally, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. Sasuke looked very sick, skin pale and almost see through. His nose was running and he whimpered every time he moved his legs and arms.

"Sasuke, can you tell me how you feel? I might be able to help more if I know what's going on." The boy nodded weakly, covering his eyes once again and rolling onto his stomach.

"My body hurts a lot... and I feel like my stomach is upside down..." Sasuke said, followed by a loud, dry cough. He buried his head in his arms and sighed shakily. Kakashi thought deeply. That sounded like anything, pretty much. The boy's eyes looked red and watery, he remembered. That seemed unnatural for usual annoying bugs. He thought a little longer, looking outside and admiring the white blanket of snow covering everything. He had knocked the snow off their tent this morning and footprints were scattered around their makeshift house. He turned back to Sasuke as the young boy coughed again, followed closely by a sneeze. The Uchiha growled furiously into his sleeping bag.

"I _cannot_ be si-ick..." He snarled and sneezed once more, wiping his wet eyes and grimacing as he noticed he was crying. His sensei wondered if the boy should get some fresh air, opening the tent's flap completely. Sasuke sighed with relief as the cold wind rushed over his sweaty back and he rolled onto his side.

"Are you hungry at all? We have some food you could eat."

"No..." The boy whimpered simply, suddenly gritting his teeth and rushing to kneel outside in the snow. His skin began to sting at the sudden temperature change, but he ignored it as he retched painfully, vomiting up whatever his stomach had to offer. His sensei got to his side swiftly, grabbing the boy as his arms gave out.

"U-ugh... Sensei..." The coughed and grasped his gut quickly. Kakashi winced at the noise, knowing the young male's belly was empty and all he was getting was stinging acid. Sasuke coughed loudly right afterwards, spitting into the snow and allowing himself to be held by his teacher. The man carried him back into the tent and placed him gently on top of his sleeping area. The Uchiha passed out the minute Kakashi covered him with a blanket, falling into a restless sleep. The grey haired man relaxed a little as he saw Sasuke go limp, thinking he would be able to get some sleep himself. The man lied down next to his student, seeing as the boy was so warm and he had given up his blanket's for him. The young ninja whined about an hour later, waking Kakashi easily. The man opened his eye to realize Sasuke curled up against his chest, face flushed and body trembling.

"Aniki... A-Aniki..." The child whispered quietly, tears soaking the older male's skin. Kakashi instinctively wrapped his arms around the child, feeling the overpowering desire to keep him safe. Though he knew his student wouldn't agree with him, this boy was like his son. The boy he's always wanted to raise and watch become a powerful, respectable ninja. He heard another frightened sob emit from the Uchiha pressed against him, rubbing the boy's warm back soothingly. He hushed Sasuke as the boy continued to cry, sniffling and pressing his cheek against his teacher's skin and listening to his heartbeat.

"It's ok, Sasuke... It's ok.."

"Itachi!... No-o!..." The child cried out and hid his face, smaller body racking with his fierce sobs. His sensei was, to say the least, slightly taken back by his student's behavior. Yes, he'd seen Sasuke have nightmares before during missions. Everyone on his team had, to Sasuke's disappointment. He remembered the time Naruto had woken him up worriedly and told him he had heard cries from Sasuke room, which had been down the hall from the blond's. The jounin had been slightly confused by his student's words and had gone to check out what was going on. Sakura had been on the bed, Sasuke's arms wrapped tightly around her neck. He was balling into her shoulder and Sakura had given him a puzzled look. That had been the first time to experience one of the boy's serious nightmares. He'd later found out that Sasuke had been dreaming of his mother, and when he saw Sakura above him after waking up he couldn't think straight. The female had, obviously, forgiven him without hesitation and even asked if he needed to talk about it to anyone. The boy had, embarrassingly, explained to her that he would be fine.

Another sob racked through Sasuke's body and Kakashi hugged him tighter in silent reassurance that he was there. The child hiccuped and cried harder, dream growing worse it seemed.

"Fath-ther... Please-..." He squeaked out, getting the older man's attention. If anything, he would have expected Sasuke to be dreaming of his dreadful older brother. That's who had always haunted his student's sleep. To hear the boy call out to his father was unusual. His grip tightened unconsciously, pulling the boy closer.

"It's alright, Sasuke." He murmured in the child's hair, breathing in the boy's scent. He smelled like rain, almost a calm smell. The Uchiha flinched as his sensei spoke, suddenly breaking into a coughing fit. He launched upright and covered his mouth, blood seeping through his fingers and dripping onto the sleeping bag below him. His sensei rubbed his back as the boy looked at his hands, tears mixing with the blood smeared on his chin. Kakashi saw the crimson ribbons trailing past the boy's pink soft lips, staining their blankets.

"Kak-kashi-" Another fit of coughs erupted from the Uchiha and blood spattered onto the tent's plastic walls. The grey haired jounin quickly flew into action, pounding his student's back and trying to help him cough out the globs of blood. The boy finally settled down, but his breathing was uneven and raspy. He went back to sleep almost seconds after the coughing passed, and his sensei brought the boy back slowly against his chest.

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><p>It had been a day since Kakashi had officially realized Sasuke was sick. The boy had coughed up about a pint of blood and his teacher was beginning to think of just heading off go find somewhere to rest thoroughly. The boy was unconscious half of the day and night, making him begin to worry about the Uchiha not waking back up. He'd grown terribly thin and pale. Sasuke pretty much looked like a breathing corpse for the past six hours. Kakashi had begun packing up in preparation to search for a nearby town. He folded up a blood soaked blanket and shoved it into his backpack. The jounin jumped as his student made the first noise he had in quite a while. A moan. A forced, exhausted, and pain-filled moan.<p>

"... Kashi... hurts..." He slurred weakly and moved his head to give the man a tired stare. The older male was quiet for a while, simply relieved that he now had evidence Sasuke was still alive, but realized the boy was in pain. Though that shouldn't have surprised him in the slightest.

"I'm here, Sasuke. Do you need anything? Are you thirsty?" He whispered quietly, not wanting to scare the child who he knew was as jumpy as hell. The young Uchiha nodded slowly, coughing hoarsely.

"Hold on, let me get it." Kakashi assured him and searched for their water bottles. He found one and shuffled back to his student's limp body. The man got the boy into his arms and managed to pour some of the cold fluid down the boy's dry throat. Sasuke drank it quickly, lifting and arm to tip it back more. He pushed it away when he had gotten enough, panting a little and wheezing sickly. His teacher held him silently, perfectly fine with their current position. This boy was the only son he'd ever have, and he was not going to let him suffer like this any longer.

"Sasuke... We're going to go find a place to stay. We'll get you some medicine soon enough, you just hang in there." The boy grunted a bit, closing his eyes and resting his head on his sensei's chest. The grey haired man looked the child over and sighed, placing the boy back down on the warm blankets and pulling a sweatshirt over the boy's head. It was the only want cloths he could find at the moment and it would have to do. It was his, an it swallowed the Uchiha almost humorously. At least, it would have been if Sasuke wasn't in such a dire condition. Kakashi finished packing, deciding to just leave the tent where it stood. He didn't have room in their backpacks anyways. Sasuke whimpered as be felt arms scoop him up quickly, head flopping back and making his teacher grimace. He propped the boy's head in the crook of his arm, rubbing his arm as they stepped into the harsh weather. Sasuke curled his arms up against his chest, shivering slightly.

"Hold on. We'll find a town soon..." His sensei encouraged him blindly, knowing his words could be completely false. Sasuke soon relaxed in his arms, chill bumps covering his bare legs. The two hadn't suspected such a snowfall and they didn't bring the proper clothes. Kakashi looked around himself, seeing that the sun was beginning to set. It would start getting really cold soon. Luckily he had his own sweatshirt, a deep black color that would absorb all the heat it could. Sasuke's was dark grey, but the thicker of the two. Kakashi would not allow Sasuke to be cold. Not a chance. He ran for a while, heading West and hoping that he would see at least a building of some sort. An hour passes and Sasuke began to shake terribly, whimpering and cuddling against his sensei. He was in desperate need of warmth. The man returned the tight grip, allowing the boy to weakly wrap his arms around his neck. The sunlight had long faded, forcing Kakashi to use his sharingan to see in the darkness. The snow surrounding them reflected the moon's milky glow and allowed everything to be seen more easily. Kakashi stumbled slightly and the child in his arms let out a choked gasp.

"S-Sensei!" He coughed up blood onto his teacher's shirt and make the older ninja flinched, pushing himself to go faster. Trees swished past them in blurry blobs, making Sasuke squint his eyes as he felt a headache coming on. The grey haired man searched for something, anything they could get protected in. The snow was beginning to get heavier and the moon was being blotted out by dark, bloated clouds. Finally, after another hard thirty minutes, a house appeared. The jounin sighed with relief, rushing towards it. Sasuke had pulled his hood up over his head and frozen against the man in silence. His teacher was almost scared he'd died in his arms. The man reached the porch and stamped up the steps to the wooden door. The house was brightly lit, announcing its occupants were still awake. Kakashi knocked on the door loudly, adjusting Sasuke so his student's face was exposed. The Uchiha groaned in annoyance at the sudden bright lights, letting his arm slide limply off of his stomach. The man waited a few seconds than began to knock louder and longer. An elderly woman opened the door and gasped a little, stepping back a few inches at sight.

"Ma'am, I'm so sorry, my student needs a place to rest. Can we please come in?" The woman looked them over, nodding and moving out of the way.

"Yes, come in." She said and shut the door behind them. Sasuke groaned as he was placed on the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Do you want any tea? I have some tea on the stove."

"Yes, yes please, and a some blankets. Do you have any blankets?" Kakashi asked quickly, pulling down the boy's hood and feeling his pale cheek. It was freezing cold, yet he knew the boy still had a fever. The sickness probably would have gotten worse by now.

"Here you go, dear." The woman offered the boy's sensei two quilts and the jounin covered his student quickly. Sasuke shivered and curled up on his side, facing the back of the couch and hiding his face. A relieved sigh escaped him, but was followed by a dry cough. The elderly female looked the boy over and shook her head.

"He's sick, isn't he sir?" Kakashi turned to her with a worried glance.

"Yes, do you have any medicine we could use?" He asked urgently, hearing the boy moan shakily in pain.

"Sensei..." He whispered breathlessly, making the man lean forward and rub his back soothingly. The woman walk off towards another room, murmuring to herself. Kakashi watched the door to the room with impatient eyes. Sasuke _needed_ medicine, and soon.

"Here we go! Here it is!" Sasuke lifted his head and eyed the woman with a weak stare.

"Who?... Sensei..."

"It's alright, Sasuke. She is going to help, don't worry." His teacher cooed and patted his back and the boy dropped his head back down on the rough cushions again. The woman opened the plastic bag and poured some white powder into the Uchiha's tea. Kakashi eyed it suspiciously, not liking the look of the woman's medicine. She noticed his curious stare and laughed a little.

"It works like a charm, trust me. Just make sure he drinks all of it." The grey haired man nodded slowly, taking the tea from the female and watching her leave.

"Are you hungry? I have some roast left over from dinner that you may like. It was very good..." She trailed off as she left down the hallway. The man set the mug down and lifted Sasuke up into his arms again. The black haired boy sighed and let the man hold his weight, trying to rest now that it was warm. Kakashi tipped the child's head back and poured some of the hot tea down his throat. Sasuke coughed a bit and knitted his eyebrows together in an annoyed manner.

"It'll make you feel better, Sasuke. Just relax." The boy listened to his teacher, accepting the drink. He finished it off and relaxed against the jounin, who pulled the blanket up over the both of them. Sasuke sighed shakily, already feeling about ten times better. His throat loosened up almost instantly. His tired mid didn't think much more about it, though, falling asleep. His sensei looked down at the Uchiha, smiling under his mask at the boy's easy breathing. He wrapped his arms around him like he had before and rested his chin on Sasuke's head, breathing in the familiar scent of rain once again. He noticed the boy curl up closer, and smiled a bit wider.

"Kashi..." The child whispered into his clothes, making the older ninja blink in surprise. The boy was, somehow in his unconscious state, accepting the man's comforting touch. This was his son, and he was his father. Kakashi held the boy closer, simply enjoying the boy's presence and knowing he was safe now.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> Yes, please excuse it if it is too short! Or sappy! It was supposed to be sweet but I quickly figured out I'm not too good at writing sweet stories... Ah well, its not supposed to please EVERYONE! The **only** person I want to please is my friend, Savvy. So here you go, girl. I adore ya'! :3

**No reviews needed, but they are welcomed if you'd like to.**

_Nat_


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